Raptors Republic

Chris Boucher earns Raptors’ Second Two-Way Contract

The Toronto Raptors have officially announced the conversion of Montreal native Chris Boucher’s exhibit-10 contract into a two-way deal. The deal gives Boucher 45 days wherein he is allowed to practice or play with the big club, and he’ll spend the remainder of his time with the Raptors 905.

Perhaps most importantly, a two-way contract gives the team control over Boucher’s deal. A standard G-League deal allows any NBA team to sign a player away, but a two-way deal gives the Raptors singular control. With Boucher’s immense upside, he is a player Toronto wants to keep in the system. Here’s what I wrote about him leading into training camp and preseason:

“On the court, Boucher is an elite rebounder and shot-blocker. He’s bouncy and fast, and he hunts blocks like a young Shawn Kemp. He averaged 6.8 rebounds and 2.8 blocks in two years at Oregon, which he replicated in 20 games for the Santa Cruz Warriors with 7.5 rebounds and 2.2 blocks. What makes Boucher truly unique is his theoretical 3-point stroke. Boucher shot 34.4 percent from deep in college, where he was most limited by a slow release. The shot itself looks clean, especially if Boucher could speed it up. Given reps from deep, Boucher could develop into a legitimate rim protector on defence and floor spacer on offence. That’s rare and coveted and potentially worth a roster spot in itself.”

His raw skills translated in preseason, where across three games, he averaged 3.0 points, 42.9 percent shooting from deep, and 1.3 blocks in only 6.3 minutes per game. Boucher has been covered by Blake, and the G-League even put together a short film about his story.

Alongside, the exciting Boucher announcement, the Raptors waived forward Deng Adel, guards Kyle Collinsworth and Kay Felder, and centre Eric Moreland. All had bright spots in the preseason. Collinsworth started against his hometown Utah Jazz. Adel notched a 13-point game against Melbourne. Felder and Moreland dominated against New Orleans, as Felder finished with 15 points and six assists and Moreland with 12 points and 12 rebounds. All four would be huge additions to the Raptors 905, who will have to rebuild their roster once again before the season begins on November 3. Moreland is one of the best centers at the G-League level, where he has little left to prove.

That all four players were on Exhibit-10 contracts is an advantage for the Raptors 905. If they convert their deals to G-League deals, they will earn $50 000 signing bonuses provided they stay with the team for a few months.

The Raptors now have a 14-player roster, which is the minimum allowable heading into the season. Toronto played almost all of last year with only 14 players on the roster to save costs, and you can expect them to do the same this year. Towards the end of the season, two-way players Jordan Loyd and Chris Boucher have inside lanes for the 15th-roster spot; Lorenzo Brown was converted to the 15th spot out of a two-way contract last year before the playoff run.

The Raptors’ depth chart now looks something like this, give or take a few positional designations and a few starter/bench roles.